Back to BEEFore: The Burger is Trendy Again

In the burger-hungry society we live in today, most of the buzz within the franchise industry has been about the “better burger” fast-casual segment. Many of these chains have emerged over the past few years, enjoyed significant growth and received accolades. But some fast-casual franchises have had only a few years to work toward compiling the right data to navigate burger trends, while some of their more industry-established fast food burger counterparts have had the luxury of seeing new trends emerge and succeed or fail. 1851 checked in with two national fast food brands, Checkers* Drive-In Restaurants (Checkers and Rally’s) and Sonic Drive-In, to learn more from each chains' executives about the top burger trends of 2013. While these two brands may go head-to-head on the industry battlefield, they share one obvious mission: both have welcomed customers into their nostalgic, indulgent drive-in restaurant environments for years. What have been the biggest burger trends over the past few years? Burgers have become the palate of enormous creativity and culinary energy over the past few years.  Some the greatest chefs in America and many of the brightest emerging chefs have made the number one menu item Americans order when they dine out new, fresh and exciting. The lowly burger has become a culinary masterpiece with flavor, ingredient and texture combinations no one would even have considered 10 years ago. --Terri Snyder, Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer for Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. We have seen consumer demand for fresh ingredients and for customization. This trend has intersected nicely with our concept of made-to-order foods. People can order burgers from our grill during any hours of operation. We have also seen burgers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and our burgers include “Jr.” versions as well as some “SuperSONIC®” options meeting the craving for a really big burger. --Claes Petersson, Vice-President of Product and Packaging Innovation, SONIC Drive-In. What burger trends are emerging in 2013? Burger innovation over the past few years is quickly finding its way to fast food with bold flavors like chipotle, garlic and buffalo, and interesting ingredients like fried pickles, French fries and specialty cheeses becoming common place ingredients. --Terri Snyder We’re seeing demand for sauces with a kick – and that’s why hickory BBQ sauce is a part of our standard build for something like our popular Bacon Cheeseburger TOASTER®. --Claes Petersson What new burger creations are being rolled out over the course of the year? Our focus this year is to bring significant news and innovation to value menu burgers. The economy is still tight. At Checkers and Rally’s, we work hard to be the absolute best choice for value occasions by providing more flavor than you’d ever expect for a $1. Our biggest $1 burger innovations this year have been the Fry Lover’s Burger®, a classic burger build with French fries layered on, and the Garlic Swiss burger, with Swiss cheese, onion petals and garlic spread. --Terri Snyder Yes, SONIC is constantly innovating as customer expectations are higher than ever. We have a number of new burgers in our product pipeline at various stages of the testing process. For competitive reasons, I can’t detail out these burgers, but based on our research to date folks are likely to be surprised, very pleasantly, by what they see. --Claes Petersson Why do consumers love your brand’s burgers? Why do they love your brand? Consumers love Checker’s and Rally’s because our food delivers over the top flavor at a great value. We are a vibrant, growth brand going the extra mile across our whole menu to deliver differentiated, craveable flavor. Many people tell us our Famous Seasoned Fries are absolutely the best, most craveable French fry in fast food. And, our burgers are no different. We make every burger to order, the moment the consumers orders it. Even the extra care we take to sear and season our 100% all beef patties, toast our fresh buns, and fully load our burgers with fresh toppings shows in the taste and freshness of every burger we serve. --Terri Snyder We have been in the business for 60 years, and guests enjoy our iconic brand featuring drive-in stalls, carhops, fresh-to-order food favorites and more. One of the biggest differentiators at SONIC Drive-In is our ability to customize. People love our Bacon Cheeseburger TOASTER®, for instance -- beef and cheese sandwiched between two thick slices of Texas Toast, topped off with crinkle-cut pickles, chopped onions, fresh shredded lettuce, ripe tomatoes, a freshly prepared onion ring & hickory BBQ sauce. We call it the “ultimate burgwich.” --Claes Petersson What’s your favorite burger? My favorite Checkers and Rally’s burger is the Baconzilla!®. We’re talkin’ double beef, triple cheese and quadruple bacon, with mayo and ketchup on a soft toasted Kaiser Bun. Burger Nirvana! --Terri Snyder My favorite is a burger on the Chiabatta bun topped with Asiago cheese, sautéed onions, Caesar sauce, lettuce and pickles. --Claes Petersson What is biggest burger seller? For Checkers and Rally’s, the biggest burger seller is Big Buford®. --Terri Snyder For SONIC, the biggest seller is the SONIC Cheeseburger. --Claes Petersson